Maria protecting Mateo — ink and wash illustration

A Philippine-American War Story

Samar, Philippines. 1901. A tattooist in self-imposed exile. A boy hunted. A war America buried.

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The Story

A survival story set against a forgotten war.

Following the 1898 Treaty of Paris, President William McKinley promised the Philippines a policy of benevolent assimilation, insisting the United States arrived as liberators. By 1901, the Philippine-American War had made the truth of that promise visible.

Deep in the mountainous interior of Samar, Maria lives alone. She was once a revered tattooist, her hands trusted to mark the bodies of her community with protection and identity. Three years ago a man died from an infection caused by one of her tattoos. She has not practiced since.

When General Jacob H. Smith orders his men to turn the island into a howling wilderness and kill everyone capable of bearing arms, age threshold ten, Maria finds a boy fleeing the destruction of his village.

Together they move through a landscape the American military is systematically destroying. The jungle is burning. There is nowhere left to go but forward.

Benevolent Assimilation — cover art
Ancestor eye — Waray tattoo pattern

The Characters

Maria

Mid-forties. A Waray tattooist in self-imposed exile. Her hands carry twenty years of practice and three years of guilt. The most important line she speaks is three words: I'm the tattooist. Her silence does the rest.

Mateo

Eleven years old. Tall for his age, old enough to mark him as a target under Smith's orders. He says little. He watches everything, especially her hands. He has been carrying a story of his own since before he understood what it meant.

General Jacob H. Smith

"Hell Roaring Jake." He is not invented. He ordered his men to kill everyone capable of bearing arms, age threshold ten. He was court-martialed, found guilty, given a public reprimand, and permitted to retire with full military honors.

The ancestor eye pattern — two filled diamonds, traditional Waray tattooing

The ancestor eye pattern.
Two filled diamonds on the upper left deltoid.

It appears three times in the story: precise and complete on Miguel's arm, imprecisely copied by untrained hands on Mateo's deltoid, and unfinished on the throat of the man who ordered the burning. Three expressions of the same design. Three different conditions.

The War

The backdrop is not fiction.

In 1898, the Treaty of Paris transferred the Philippines from Spain to the United States. The Filipino people, who had already declared independence and were fighting for it, were not party to the agreement.

"We come not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights."

— President William McKinley, Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, December 21, 1898

The Philippine-American War that followed lasted from 1899 to 1902. On September 28, 1901, Filipino resistance fighters attacked American soldiers garrisoned at Balangiga, on the island of Samar, killing 48. In response, Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith ordered his men to make the interior of Samar "a howling wilderness."

"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn: the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me."

— General Jacob H. Smith, to Major Littleton Waller, 1901

When asked for an age limit, he set it at ten years old.

200,000–1,000,000

Filipino civilians
killed

4,200

American soldiers
killed

10

Age threshold ordered
by General Smith

0

Public reprimand, full honors, full pension: what Smith received at his court-martial

The Boston Sunday Globe cartoon, March 1899
New York Evening Journal cartoon, May 1902

The bells of Balangiga, taken as war trophies, remained in the United States for 117 years. They were returned to the Philippines in December 2018.

This war killed more Filipino civilians than nearly any conflict in the islands' history. It is taught in almost no American school.

The Campaign

Help Us Bring this Forgotten History to Print

Benevolent Assimilation is an independent, historical graphic novel that relies on reader support to exist. By backing the campaign on Kickstarter, you directly fund the high-quality printing, distribution, and preservation of this critical War story. Back our project today and choose from exclusive rewards like limited prints, behind-the-scenes sketches, and special editions.

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Kristian Kabuay practicing traditional hand-tap tattooing

The Writer / Creator

A story that could only be told by someone who practices it.

Kristian Kabuay is a Filipino-American multimedia artist, traditional hand-tap tattooing practitioner, cultural educator, and founder of Baybayin.com. He coined the term Pre-Filipino and has lectured at major institutions across the United States.

He holds an Alliance for California Traditional Arts fellowship and trained in traditional hand-tap tattooing under Lane Wilcken, the foundational figure of the contemporary revival in the diaspora. He is the creator of two previous graphic novel titles incorporating traditional tattooing as a central element and is the founder of Balay School, an AI-powered Filipino cultural education platform. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alliance for California Traditional Arts fellow
Trained in traditional hand-tap tattooing under Lane Wilcken
Two prior graphic novel titles with tattooing as central element
Founder, Baybayin.com — Filipino cultural education
Founder, Balay School — AI-powered Filipino cultural education

Benevolent Assimilation is not a story about tattooing. It is a story that could only be told by someone who practices it.

Little Mambabatok cover
Sulat Baybayin Kids cover

Collaborations: Little Mambabatok & Sulat Baybayin Kids

The Illustrator

Bringing history to life through line and wash.

Faye Alferes is a professional illustrator and visual artist based in Davao, Philippines. Her expressive brushwork, character designs, and rich textures form the visual heart of Benevolent Assimilation, capturing the human emotion of a devastating historical era.

Faye is the illustrator behind two previous publications: Little Mambabatok: A Modern Tattoo Tale and Sulat Baybayin Kids: A to Ya. Benevolent Assimilation marks the third collaboration between Kristian and Faye, representing their most ambitious, immersive, and visually complex graphic novel to date.

Based in Davao, Philippines
Illustrator of Little Mambabatok: A Modern Tattoo Tale
Illustrator of Sulat Baybayin Kids: A to Ya
Third and most ambitious graphic novel collaboration with Kristian

Contact

Publisher & Media Inquiries

For publisher submissions, media bookings, interview requests, educational use, or other inquiries, please reach out directly:

k@kabuay.com